“From the hand to the mouth / manually and orally / from the mouth to the hand / who is spoiled for choice has the choice” sings Till Lindemann in the usual, simple Haudrauf language aesthetics in the text of the Rammstein song “Till the End “. For the song, which is based on a poem by the musician, there is a porn video that was made three years ago – a qua definition of genuine porn with all the trimmings: The focus is on sexual acts including visible primary sexual characteristics, performed by/on Till Lindemann and boys, slender women; music has been omitted from some scenes, enhancing their visual content; and one can speak both of an “impersonal sexuality” and of a “degradation of the human being to a mere interchangeable object”, also because the performers are partly made anonymous by Till-Lindemann masks.
The use of one of his books as a failed attempt at a literary “glory hole” was the last straw for Lindemann’s publishers Kiepenheuer & Witsch, although the video would probably have been enough for KiWi to end the collaboration even without this prop.
Pornography is not prohibited in Germany, but only subject to certain regulations, such as an age limit. And whether the video depicts “violent pornography” that would actually fall under a “distribution ban” is difficult to define: the actresses (including Lindemann) don’t look like they enjoy the sex, Lindemann is the only one, like a frustrated one , old, white-painted clown-looking cock in the room seems to be driven more by an aversion to women in general, and thus also to his own sexuality, his lust and his body – the film wallows in self-hatred, which on a meta-level to Lindemann’s self-portrayal as broken , but potent sex devil should contribute.
But there’s no discernible coercion in the seven-minute film: on a porn website, it would be classified under “rough sex,” one of the most popular categories. And “submission,” while the film strays far from the consensual, mindful rules of the BDSM community, is allowed in sexuality.
In addition to the allegations of sexual abuse that the singer is currently confronted with, which have not (yet) been officially proven, this video still leaves you confused and helpless: How can it be possible in a time that is more than ever before of sexual self-determination, comprehensive possibilities of female self-empowerment and sex-positive education, come to this kind of sex negativity? Are there really that many people whose lust is triggered by humiliation? Can one assume that young women in the mainstream Mackerrock scene, which is characterized by misogynistic power structures and classic sexism, know what they are doing when they let their favorite band stage them as “interchangeable objects” – especially when their crush makes them more tolerant of questionable things behave? And doesn’t the contempt that the women experience fall back heavily on the performers, in this case on Lindemann?
One would wish that the gruesome events surrounding Rammstein would illuminate the poverty of the overall construction – and finally shake up the macho structures in (bad) mainstream straight porn with lasting effect. But this kind of realization probably requires a huge number of therapy sessions.